Jena Malone to add her grizzled gravitas to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Having secured the teenage fanbase through the blatantly pandering casting of Philip Seymour Hoffman, the producers of The Hunger Games franchise have moved on to finding the sort of grizzled character actor who can add the proper gravitas to its post-apocalyptic bloodsport. Thus the pivotal role of Johanna Mason in Catching Fire will likely be played by Jena Malone—with her parts in Donnie Darko and Sucker Punch, essentially the Brian Dennehy of disaffected teen movies, minus all of Dennehy's gamine coquettishness. Malone is no doubt preparing for the role by wielding axes slightly more than usual.